Jorge De La Rosa shows off the bruise on his left arm. De La Rosa was struck by a liner on Friday, but will not miss a start. He’s hockey tough. (Troy E. Renck, The Denver Post)

Rafael Betancourt’s son knew when his dad was ill in July, advising the trainers to examine him, which led to an emergency appendectomy. Asked how his father looked on Monday, Rafael Jr. smiled. Betancourt threw a 30-pitch simulated game on Monday, will throw for Triple-A Colorado Springs on Thursday then plans to rejoin the Rockies on Friday in Baltimore.

“I feel much better. I threw all my pitches. It went really well,” said Betancourt, whose absence since July 19 has hurt a struggling bullpen.

Betancourt, 38, lost 8 pounds following the surgery and it took a bit of time to regain his strength. The right-hander threw three bullpen sessions last week before facing hitters on Monday.

It’s unclear if he will return to the closer’s role. The Rockies like him in that spot because it frees Rex Brothers to pitch the seventh or eighth innings. However, Brothers has performed well as a closer, working out of a difficult jam in Sunday’s victory over the Pirates.

De La Rosa bruised, but OK
Starter Jorge De La Rosa was struck by a line drive in Friday’s win over the Pirates. He stayed in the game and insists that he won’t miss his next start. The liner left a wicked bruise that looks like a tattoo on his upper left arm (see picture).

“It was worse before. The bruise was bigger. It doesn’t hurt,” De La Rosa said.

De La Rosa was the victim of a prank on Sunday. Carlos Gonzalez and Jonathan Herrera snagged a Broncos’ helmet and jersey out of the pitcher’s locker for Peyton Manning to sign. CarGo had Manning make the autograph out to him on the helmet so De La Rosa couldn’t take it back.

“He will have to get another one,” CarGo said with a smile.

Footnotes
Outfielder Michael Cuddyer missed his second consecutive game with an illness. … Infielder Josh Rutledge is sidelined in Triple-A with a foot injury.